Earlier this year, Sony took the wraps off the Xperia Z, a high-end smart phone powered by a quad-core processor and equipped with a 13.1-megapixel camera and a 5-inch display. Pundits called it "stunning" – a device, to quoteTechCrunch, that might "deliver the scalps of high-end rival devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy S3 and Apple’s iPhone 5."

This week, Sony announced it would release a pair of new Xperia devices: The Xperia SP and Xperia L.

The SP is a toned-down, mid-range version of the flagship Xperia Z, designed to appeal to users who might not need all the power of the Z. The SP gets a 4.6-inch screen, a dual core processor – as opposed to the quad-core on the Z – and an 8-megapixel camera. The aluminum frame resembles that of the Z, but the phone is a bit smaller and a little easier to stuff in the pocket.